Compare & Contrast
by hannahpees
Summary: Glimmer and Cato's story, beginning when they first met in the training center.
1. Allies

I stand in the training room, bow and arrow in my hands, aiming at the pale, white dummy. These things are supposed to look real? I thought the capitol was better than this. Well, this is the Games, anyway. I'm just about ready to let go and put an arrow in the dummy's heart when a head pops into my vision. Cato. I thought he had something going with Clove… guys had liked me for the longest time. It gets old fast. Even when I was little, Marvel had a crush on me. That guy is a joke! Sure, he is good with a spear, but what happens when he doesn't have one?

"What do you think you're doing?!" I yell at him, frustrated by the fact I almost killed him.  
"Annoying you and it's working," he responds as he gives me the famous smirk.  
"True," I say lowering my bow. I don't need to kill someone before the games.  
"So, you like the arrow I see." He states.  
"And you like swords, the difference please?" I ask, annoyed. His annoying game is totally working.  
"We both have our weapons." He states. What goes on in his mind?  
"Yes, can you do anything without the sword though?" I ask.  
"Like what?" He asks, ready for the challenge.  
"Hmm," I say looking around the training center for inspiration," I bet I could get to the top of the net faster than you!" I challenge, ready to win.  
"I'd rather not," he says embarrassed.  
"Oh, you scared you might fall and break your arm?" I say ready to fight.  
"No!" He says, still embarrassed.

I grab my arrow and aim for his head, knowing I wouldn't actually let go. He seems frightened and backs away. I turn to the ugly, pale dummy and shoot. I shot right at the heart. I'm glad I hit the target considering Cato might be watching. Then I feel the warm, masculine hands on my shoulders. He definitely saw.

"Not bad for a girl who's named after the sparkle in gems. I thought you would hit the wall," he says, smirking again. He is obviously into me, but I was sure he had something going with clove. Might as well play along, I need allies.

"Funny," I say sarcastically, "how are you with your sword?" I ask putting both of my hands on his arm. I forgot how easy it was to flirt. I tried not to in district one. I focused on training and getting into the games, not getting guys. Sure, I may be pretty, but I know what I want.

"Why? You want to see?" He says, winking.  
"Sure," I say, ready to see if he actually knows what he is doing.  
Cato proceeds to get a sword from the stand holding the weapons. It looks like it was made for him. It fits perfectly in his hands. Or maybe his hands were made for the sword.

He walks over to the row of dummies that are placed in a half-circle shape. He takes a deep breath, grips the sword tighter, a runs. He slices arms, heads, and legs off with precise movements. No amount of energy seems to go to waste. The very last dummy stands unscathed. I wonder what he'll do. He goes over, sword ready to kill, and stabs the dummy in the heart. I'm glad I'm trying for an alliance with him.

"Not bad, huh Glitter?" He asks, giving me a new nickname.  
"No, not bad at all. But, you don't need help with your showing off," I joke, "You're really good at doing that."  
"Well, you're just dazzled by my strength. And, my good looks," he says shooting me a pose that capitol men do. I can't help but smile, he does look pretty good.

Cato leads me to the couch in the break room, where we end up talking for an hour. We really should be training. Isn't this training though? I mean, I'm making an ally here, plus we are totally flirting with each other. It is nice just telling each other about our lives, no pressure that we may end up killing the other person in the end.

I tell him about my family and how I was ready for the games. He tells me how he and clove trained together since they were ten. He mentions that they are like family, brother and sister, and work well together. Our conversation goes on like this until we decide to go and train, because that's why we are here.


	2. Mind Games

A day later, I have officially made Cato my ally. Now I'm onto clove. Obviously Marvel and I have been allies from the start, but I don't talk to him much now. The only time we do is at meals or when Gloss, our mentor, talks to us about games strategies.

As I stand in line for a mind-challenging test in the training center, Cato walks up to me. He just finished with a 13 out of a possible 15. I'll beat his score easily.  
"It's not that bad," he says sympathetically.

"I know, you just can't control your brain," I tease, trying to get him mad. He is really funny when he gets mad.  
"And you can't control your mouth!" He says, pinching my lips together.  
After him letting go of my lips I ask, "Where is Clove? I haven't seen her yet today. Don't all tributes have to be at training?"  
"Yeah, she is in the break room, she hasn't really left that room all day." He states.  
"I'm going to talk to her after this test. Want to come with me?" I ask, hoping he'll say yes.  
"Sure, I'm going to go kill some dummies, find me when you finish. Trust me, you won't beat my score," he says adding his famous smirk.  
"Go have fun!" I say.

After waiting in for another 10 minutes, for a test I have no interest of doing, I finally get up to the podium. It seems very complicated, but I can probably handle it. Considering our teachers in district one taught us very well in math and science, I think I'll do well.

The test is actually very simple, but the capitol makes it look more complicated then it really is. All you have to do is find the item on the screen that matches the one you are looking for. But, knowing the Capitol, they have a twist on it. You have to find 7 of the item in 10 seconds. The items are leaves, which look exactly like each other except for minor details. I bet the girl from 5 would be good at this.  
I end up with a 13.5 out of 15, better than Cato. He'll be surprised.

I look around the training center for him and can't seem to find him. Then, over by the smaller dummies in the corner, I spot him talking to Marvel. Wait. They talk to each other? Well, at least my two allies are talking.

By the time it takes me to get to the other end of the training center, Cato and Marvel are already seeing who can hit the target the most times. I put one hand on Marvel's shoulder and one on Cato's, and say "Hi!" in an excited voice I almost never use. Then, almost synchronized, they both say "hey" at the same time.

"Who's winning?" I ask, acting like I actually am interested.  
"Me," Marvel says.  
"Yeah, he's actually not that bad. Dead-on aim," Cato adds  
"Look who's growing up," I say to Marvel.  
"Funny," he says sarcastically  
"Okay, mirror," I comment, he always copies my sayings.  
"Funny," he says again. This is really aggravating.  
"Glitter, come with me before you get even more annoyed," Cato says to my rescue. Marvel and I usually end up fighting, but we're great fighting partners. Him with his spear, me with my bow. We are unstoppable.  
"Thanks," I say once we get away from Marvel.  
"No problem, let's go check on Clove."


	3. Worries

I just wanted to say thanks for reading! And obviously, **I don't own The Hunger Games**. I don't feel the need to put that on every one. Thank you and review if you have the time! Hope you like it!

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Once we get into the break room, I can see why clove has been in here. She's an emotional wreck today. I hope she will actually talk to us.

"Hey Clove," I say, almost scared I might anger her.  
"How are you?" Cato asks.  
"Ugh," she says, sounding like she is already dying. We haven't even got to the arena yet.  
"Can we talk to you?" Cato quietly asks.  
"Sure," she says. I never expected her to actually say a word to us.  
"Are you willing to tell us why you're like this?" I ask.  
"You don't have to," Cato adds.  
"It's ok, I know why you guys are worried." She responds.

Clove goes on to telling us why she has been crying all day. When she was younger she and her sister would train in there back yard. Their father would make dummies for them to aim at. Her sister was better than her with axes, but she always admired her, even though her weapon was a knife. When her sister was ten, she went into training for the games. Clove always knew they both would volunteer in the end, but she didn't know her sister was going to die. When she had died, she kept to her self and stayed strong. Now being in the exact spot as her sister was, forced to volunteer, she let all the pain and grief out.

"I'm sorry Clove, really sorry," I say, hoping my words help.  
"I totally forgot about your sister, I know how hard this must be for you," Cato adds  
"Thanks guys," she says grabbing a tissue and blotting her eyes with it, "How about we go train?"  
"That sounds like a plan," I say  
"Sure," Cato agrees.

The three of us walk outside the break room into the vast training center. The Capitol really did think of everything to put in here. I swear, if they left something out, nobody would notice. Cato grabs my hand and squeezes it tight. Most career tributes go through something like this; he knows it's hard for me to hear. Clove leads us to rows of dummies. The dummies are in lines, with more lined up behind them. She grabs a handful of knives.

"This is for my sister," she says holding up the knives. She proceeds to through the knives with such promise. Each dummy ends up with a knife in the head or heart. After one is hit, it goes to the back of the line and unscathed one comes up. She never misses a target.

"That helped," she says when she is out of knives, gasping for air.  
"Uh, it sure seemed to," Cato says, examining one of the dummies with a knife in the head, "Lets give it the clove signature," he grips the knife and pulls it out. Then, he draws a line where the mouth should be and sticks the knife back in the forehead. "Much better," he says to himself.

"Thanks," Clove says, it did seem to cheer her up.  
"No problem," Cato responds. He loves doing things like that.  
"What now?" I ask, practically ready for anything.  
"I don't know," Cato responds while putting his arm around my waist, "How about we go see Marvel."  
"Sure," Clove says agreeing  
"Sounds like a plan," I add. Clove leads the way to where Marvel sits lonely in a corner. Cato leans down and whispers into my ear, "The real reason for this is to get Marvel and Clove together," he grins devilishly. What am I getting myself into? He pulls me closer to him, continuing to walk, and says, "You know, I really do like you."


	4. Answers

"And you don't know I like you?" I question. Being with him for the last few days really changed me. At first he was a muscular guy who would make a great ally, but now? He's incredibly sweet and if anyone lays a finger on me, they would have a black eye in a second. He so protective of me that he rarely leaves my side.

"You do?" he says in shock. How could he not see that?  
"Yes," I respond again, starting to feel embarrassed.

"When were you planing to tell me?" he questions as he stops walking. He turns to face me and rests his forehead against mine, "I can't believe we all are here to die." He says, cringing at the thought.

"It's ok," I say reaching up to run my hands through his golden hair, "We'll get through it, right? Now we have each other, we are going to be fine."

"Glitter?" he asks, "Come to my floor after training, I want to show you something."  
"Sure," I mumble into his neck  
"What the hell are you guys doing?!" Clove yells ahead of us, "We have to train!"  
"Coming!" We yell simultaneously. We run to catch up and find Marvel leaning against a wall, sharpening his spear. Clove goes and starts talking with Marvel on a platform. Cato grabs my hand as I turn to face him.

"What do you want to show me? Am I even aloud on your floor?" I ask curiously.  
"I'll make sure you're aloud, I'll say we are allies and need to go over techniques. And for the surprise, well, you are going to have to wait." He says grinning.  
"Is coming to your floor breaking the rules?" I ask. I don't need a punishment before the games.  
"I don't believe so. I'll ask Somera, who represents us, if we can. Odds are she'll say we are fine." He states reassuringly.

"Okay, I'll be up after dinner," I promise. He leads me to the platform where Marvel and Clove are talking. It would be nice if they dated. Clove and Marvel, Cato and I. That would be awesome.

We all stand there, watching the other tributes, while planning each and everyone's death.

Out of nowhere, the male from 12 falls off of a climbing exercise onto mats. The female from 12 runs over to him. Why is everyone so obsessed with the "Girl on Fire" thing? I mean, that was a horrible costume. Then on the chariots when they held hands.. That was so fake! I watched the tapes of the parade and almost vomited when I saw it. Marvel was laughing his head off. How does the Capitol fall for this?! It's obviously just for show.

Peeta, I think his name is, goes over to a rack of weapons and picks up a 50 pound ball. He walks away from the rack and takes a deep breath. Then he throws the weight over the rack and knocks every weapon over. Well, at least he is not _totally_ useless.

I turn to see that the other careers were surprised too, at least for a second. Cato raises a eyebrow at me and I understand what he is saying. If we had control over Peeta, we could find the girl. When she was dead, we would kill him. I nod as a response to his nonverbal question.

Faster than I can imagine, the training day ends and I am in my room on floor one. The avoxes have laid out a crimson blouse with ruffles along the necklines and black pants for dinner. The color goes really well with my completion, I couldn't have picked better. I'm not very skilled at picking outfits for myself, you would think I had the capability.

Dinner is like the usual, nothing unique. Marvel sits boasting about himself and making corny jokes. He really is a crowd pleaser. Compared to the day, dinner goes by slow. I'm happy when Gloss decides we don't need dessert because I can go run over to my protector on floor two.

"No punishment?" Cato asks worried.  
"Nope! Gloss totally understood." I respond.  
"Perfect," he say grabbing my hand and pulling me close. We are only at the front door of Clove and his "apartment", and even though everyone is in their rooms, you never know when Clove is going to pop out with one of her beloved knives.

"What is the surprise?" I ask, still curious. How could I not be?  
"It's not a huge surprise, actually, I just wanted you to have something to think about today other than the games," he admits, "Can you wait one more minute? It's not a big surprise, so don't get overworked about it."

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Thanks for reading! Review if you have the time!


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